Observation Hive Project

[FlyingRon]

Well, it's not often I get to post something that I've actually built lately. I've been busy with the construction of the house so much I've not had time to do other than very utilitarian tasks in the workshop, but I built an observation hive from plans and this weekend got the bees into it.

I still have to put a little finish on it but I was rushing to get it done before the bees were here (they take care of finishing the inside). I did get three coats of cetol on the external landing platform.

Anyhow, I saw my queen (we named her Bee-atrice) just now, so everybody seems happy.

 

[KenOfCary]

Pretty cool project - do you hear them buzzing around much or is the sound deadened?

 

[Jeff]

Nice, is the observation hive going somewhere else besides mounting on your garage wall? Why do you want an observation hive?

 

[FlyingRon]

The hive is mounted in our back stairway (there's a pretty good sized landing there). That puts the entrance to the outside up about 15' in the air (though it is not that high above the average terrain as I'm on a rather steep hill. It doesn't seem to have bothered the girls at all. Actually, it's a bit quieter than in there than the nuc hive box I took them out of. The glass is 1/4" thick laminated safety glass. Some buzzing escapes through these 1 3/8" bored holes at four points in the side of the frame.

I decided to get into bee keeping (I've got two more traditional hives sitting waiting for bees). My wife and I took bee classes with the local group. Margy had been an employee of the Smithsonian and the Natural History museum there has had observation hives for years. I found these plans and they're pretty straight forward. The company sells them for over $1000 in the configuraiton I built (actually, they don't even make this size any more, too large). I built it pretty much out of scrap except for having to get the glass custom cut for me.

 

[Jeff]

Are the Cadillac Deluxe models from Bonterra Bees for $800-900 and plans for about $50?

We tried bee keeping a few years ago in a home made top bar hive that I made but had failures 3 years running with fresh bees each spring. The bees are really fun to watch and observe as they go about their daily activities. Good luck!

Some favorite videos about bees. I like "Anatomy of a Hive".

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xq1o59

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees/

 

[zapdafish]

thats pretty cool, can you harvest honey from that?

 

[bash]

Very cool addition to a house.

 

[FlyingRon]

thats pretty cool, can you harvest honey from that?

I suppose I could if the bees would keep the honey and brood seperate on a frame. Actually, they've seen to have done that on at least one.
However, I think I'll let them keep their honey in this one. I've got other (more traditional) hives going in.

 

[Jim M.]

That's so very cool. I remember spending hours staring at one in my high school, I had several study periods in the science lab.

 

[tdukes]

Good luck with the bees! I had 6 hives up till last year. Did for about 5 years. Never had any luck with them. Living in a subdivision where folks spray for mosquitoes all the time, the bees never had a chance.

 

[sawman101]

Observation hives are not just fun to watch, they are a good teaching tool too. I'd love to get into beekeeping, but my wife is terrified of them, and I kinda like having her around!

 

[tdukes]

Observation hives are not just fun to watch, they are a good teaching tool too. I'd love to get into beekeeping, but my wife is terrified of them, and I kinda like having her around!

Its a fun hobby but it does require some time and work. Only was stung once in 5 years I did it. initially, I suited up in full gear. As time went on, I was able to go into the hives wearing only a veil. The bees are quite gentle if you don't work them into tizzy. I now know where the phrase, busy as a bee came from. They hardly notice you unless you make yourself noticed.

 

[FlyingRon]

Are the Cadillac Deluxe models from Bonterra Bees for $800-900 and plans for about $50?

Yes, this is the DW10 SwingView from Bonterra with the optional top entry design. They don't even sell this one anymore, but I suspect it'd be over $1000.
The plans were really nicely done. It wasn't all that involved putting together. I milled down some 2x4's into the appropriate stock for the body. You dado in the slots for the frames. You build essentially picture frames to go around the glass and stick those in with hangar bolts. The bracket is a bit fancier, but not by much. Took me about four days including mounting it. I used a few 2x4's I had lying around and bought some 1" select pine boards at lowes for the rest. The only thing that really cost me any money was having the glass cut.

 

[red]

Way cool. I like it.

Red